62 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



Although the formation of this race began about 1850 (per- 

 haps earlier), it was fifty years before it became known outside 

 of the limited area in which it was almost the only type to be seen. 

 Indeed, the first birds of this race to attract the attention of 

 the public were exhibited about 1890 as Buff Plymouth Rocks 

 and Buff Wyandottes. At that time very few of the Rhode 

 Island Reds were as dark in color as the average specimen 



now seen in the showroom, 

 and buff specimens were 

 numerous. Birds with rose 

 combs, birds with single 

 combs, birds with pea combs, 

 and birds with intermediate 

 types of comb could often 

 be found in the same flock. 

 So it was not a very difficult 

 matter, among many thou- 

 sands of birds, to pick out 

 some that would pass for 

 Buff Plymouth Rocks and 

 some that would pass for 

 Buff Wyandottes. These 

 varieties were also made in 

 other ways, mostly by vari- 

 ous crosses with the Buff Cochin, but for some years breeders 

 continued to draw on the Rhode Island supply. 



Some people in the Rhode Island district thought that a 

 breed which could thus furnish the foundation for varieties of 

 two other breeds ought to win popularity on its own merits. So 

 they began to exhibit and advertise Rhode Island Reds. At first 

 they made little progress, but as the breed improved, many 

 more people became interested in it, and soon it was one of the 

 most popular breeds in the country. The modern exhibition 

 Rhode Island Red is of a dark brownish red in color. 



FIG. 53. Columbian Wyandottes. (Photo- 

 graph from R. G. Richardson, Lowell, 

 Massachusetts) 



